New drugdetection dogs earning keep in prison

WELLINGTON: More than 168 grams of synthetic drugs has been removed from prisons thanks to specialised sniffer dogs — the country’s first detector dogs trained to detect new psychoactive substances.

In March, the Department of Corrections deployed dogs trained to detect new psychoactive substances in prison.

During the 201718 year, 33 samples of synthetic drugs totalling more than 168g was recovered by Corrections.

An annual report released yesterday detailed the lengths the Department of Corrections goes to keep contraband out of prisons.

‘‘We are currently managing over 10,000 prisoners, some of whom will go to extreme lengths to introduce contraband into prison,’’ the report reads.

‘‘This can include concealment of contraband in vehicles, mail and property, internal concealment, and receiving contraband that has been thrown over the prison’s perimeter.

‘‘Our strategies for limiting access to contraband include extensive prison perimeter security, camera surveillance in visit rooms, background checks on all prison visitors, vehicle searches, scanners and Xray machines at entry points and the deployment of specialist detector dogs.’’

Visitors caught smuggling contraband into prison were referred to the police and banned from visiting prisons across the country.

In September, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said five detector dog teams graduated from a specialised weeklong training course earlier this year.

‘‘We know synthetic drugs are dangerous and pose a significant risk to people’s safety, security and wellbeing both inside and outside prison,’’ Mr Davis said.

‘‘It’s not a widespread problem in prisons, but we need to stay one step ahead in preventing these substances from being introduced and distributed in the first place. ’’

The ingredients of synthetic drugs were constantly changing, which meant training the dogs had to be ongoing, but this was an important step towards mitigating the potential dangers of these harmful sub stances, he said.

The crackdown on synthetics drugs behind bars comes as the country deals with a surge in the number of deaths believed to linked to the substance.

Provisional figures released by the coroner in July showed between 40 and 45 people died in as a result of synthetic drugs in the year prior.

St John figures show the service attended about 1200 synthetic drugrelated callouts this year, with the majority in Auckland.

The Department of Corrections annual report paints a picture of the changing prison population with the prison muster of more than 10,000 experiencing a significant growth in the numbers of women incarcerated.

Ninetyone per cent of prisoners have a lifetime diagnosis of mental health or substance abuse disorders, according to the report.

More than 75% of prisoners have convictions for violence.

About a third of the prison population is affiliated with gangs and of those about 70% identify as Maori.

About 30,000 people are on communitybased sentences and orders.